One Hell Of An Exorcist
by Karen
Summary: "Just as you are one hell of an exorcist, I am merely one hell of a butler."
1. Prologue

One Hell Of An Exorcist

A crossover fanfiction of _"Black Butler" _and _"Blue Exorcist"_

By Karen

**Prologue**

This was supposed to be just like any other mission the True Cross Order sent us on. Locate whatever demon or entity was causing trouble and danger, find it's weakness and exorcise it. Perfectly straightforward. I should have known better then that! Dad would say those were famous last words!

That late Sunday afternoon, not more than a week after the incident involving the man made Gehenna gate and my own demonic side being awakened, I had gotten a call from our principal, Mephisto Pheles, that there had been rumours of strange disturbances in the abandoned Funtom Toy factory. Since the eighteen hundreds the British toy company had expanded even to here in Japan and smaller factorys had been replaced with larger, more modern ones over time to meet the supply and demand.

"Of course there's a possibility it may be nothing but gossip, which is why only your brother and you are being sent to investigate right now," our principal explained casually from his end of the phone, "but whatever you find, you must deal with it accordingly and report it to the order."

"Understood," I answered before turning off my cell phone and tucking it back in my coat pocket. Then I turned to my elder twin, who was predictiblay dozing off on a nearby bench, snoring and drooling from the corner of his mouth.

"Brother?" I tried to get his attention.

"Brother?" Still, he continued to snore.

_"Brother!"_ I snapped.

That finally did it. Startled awake, Rin jumped to his feet.

"Huh? Oh!" Then he put one hand behind his head sheepishly, the other holding his sword, Kurikara. "You finish your call, Yukio? Man, it was taking forever!"

I mentally rolled my eyes. "Yes, I'm finished getting the details for this investigation, and you're the one who insisted on coming with me, so I'd appreciate it if you'd at least stay awake!"

We began heading in the direction we had been given for the Funtom toy factory and Rin hurried up to keep pace with me.

"Yeah yeah, give me a break! I've been reading up on this company too, you know! It had a food branch as well as being into toy making, but it could have a shadier side."

I nodded and adjusted my glasses. "Right, there's a possibility it might have been involved in weapons manufacturing as well, and there's been some strange rumours about the Phantomhive family. If these really are demonic disturbances, they may tie in with that."

My brother grinned. "Well, we kicked Satans ass and closed that Gehenna gate together, didn't we? After all that, any other mission should be a cakewalk! By the way, how come I haven't seen you use your own demon powers since then?"

I shook my head. "Firstly, _defeating_ Satan isn't the same as destroying him. He's still out there and may be planning his next move right now. Secondly, my own demonic abilities were only awakened because of the opening of the Gehenna gate and the mixing of our blood." I frowned, remembering just whose fault that had been. "So most likely they'll never resurface unless something like that happens again."

At least I hoped that was the case. The last thing I wanted or needed was a repeat performance of what had happened that night. Leave the blue flames to Rin. I was still determined to be the normal one.

* * *

The office phone rang again and Mephisto smiled to himself, already knowing just who would be calling.

"True Cross Academy! Pheles speaking!" the second strongest of the eight demon kings answered cheerfully.

"You have sent the sons of Satan as requested?" a smooth heavily British voice asked.

"Of course, of course," the King of Time replied easily. "You should find them both very amusing, especially the elder twin."

"I confess, I find it odd that you would agree so enthusiastically, knowing exactly why the young master and I require them."

Mephisto chuckled. How some demons willingly contracted themselves willingly contracted in service to these humans, all for a few moments of pleasure consuming a tasty, high quality soul, he didn't know.

"Think of it as... well, an... interesting wager. Whoever wins will keep my fathers half human children."

"Another of your wagers is it then?" came the voice at the other end. "Very well, the young master and I accept your wager, Samael."

"Wonderful! I'm so glad to hear that, my dear cousin, Sebastian Michaelis! That is what your _young master_ calls you, isn't it? Be careful though, you don't want to end up like poor Claude Faustus!" How he enjoyed rubbing it in that two of the most powerful demons in Gehenna had been checkmated by a mere human child! One slain and the other bound in eternal servitude!

"Quite," was the dry reply. "Now, if you will excuse me, there is much to do and only a few hours left until dinner."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The factory with the fading Funtom Company logo on its doors had been emptied and abandoned for almost a century at the very least. Most of the filthy windows were broken. Worn benches and tables covered with dust and were the only evidence that Funtom employees had ever worked here to manufacture the company's toys and other novelties.

"Man, they actually used to make toys and stuff in this dump?" Rin asked looking around, hands in his pockets.

"Until Funtom got more modern and efficient factories here, yes," I answered matter of factly. Back in the Meiji era, the company's Bitter Rabbits, Noah's Arcs, chocolates and perfumes had ensnared as many consumers in Japan as in England.

My brother's tail swished in thought. I would have reminded him to tuck it back in, but we weren't in public.

"If there is a demon, I wonder what it'd be doing around here anyway. Though I gotta admit, it sure looks like the kind of place that might be haunted."

I was about to point out that nobody would think of an _amusement park_ being haunted, yet Rin and Shiemi had encountered the ghost causing mischief there, when a voice answered from nearby...

"Oh, you can rest assured, young sir. This factory is not, nor ever has been, haunted by ghosts."

We both spun around, hands fixed on our weapons, to see a tall, elegantly dressed man standing a few feet across from us. Obviously a Westerner, his outfit consisted of black trousers and a six button double-breasted tailcoat with a grey vest and pocket watch. I was close enough to recognize the Phantomhive crest on his shirt cuffs, tie and chained silver lapel pin.

"The spawn of Satan, I presume," he greeted us as he approached. Then he bowed politely. "I am honoured to meet you at last, Rin Okumura. Now, forgive me, but it is getting rather late and my young master insists I bring you to him at once."

The two of us were taken aback at this. He already knew about Rin? How could he have found out?

"Who's your master then?" Rin demanded. Thankfully, Dad had taught us both English from the time we were old enough to speak. "What does he want?"

I pointed a gun at the newcomer. "And just who are you? You're obviously not with the Order."

He smiled as he came closer, a sickeningly false smile. "Why, just as you are one hell of an exorcist, I am merely one hell of a butler." While he spoke, darkness and black feathers seemed to surround him. His eyes began to glow a flaming red.

_Demon! _And I could already tell it's power level was so high it could take on human form without even having to possess a body!

Sorry, Brother. No chance of befriending or reasoning with this kind of monster! Quickly, before the butler demon could come any closer, I seized my custom 1911s from their holsters and fired a good number of silver holy water bullets into his body. He collapsed to the floor.

"Yukio! You didn't have to do that!" Rin turned to me angrily. "We could have at least talked to him and found out what he wanted!"

I had to resist the urge to hit him! "What he _wants_ is to eat human souls, Brother! This isn't Kuro or Ukabach! When a high level demon like that says they're after you..."

But our argument was soon interrupted... "Dear dear! Human weapons just keep getting more and more efficient, don't they?"

Rin and I turned in shock and horror to see the butler demon rise from the floor, completely unharmed!

"Silver bullets filled with holy water?" He observed after spitting them all back into his hand. "How ingenious, but they're best used on coal tars and hobgoblins. I suppose you would like these returned?"

I had seen enough of high level demons by now to guess what he intended next...

_"Look out, Brother!"_ I yelled and roughly shoved Rin out of the way of the shower of bullets the demon butler threw back in our direction. Unfortunately, I myself couldn't get out of the way in time and a bullet struck my shoulder. Dropping my guns, I collapsed on my side with a hiss of pain.

_"Yukio!"_ Rin yelled. Then he unsheathed Kurikara. "Allright," he snarled angrily, the familiar trademark blue flames igniting from his body. "That's it, Jeves!"

"A demon slaying sword?" the butler demon eyed it with interest. "Amazing, I haven't seen one of those in over one hundred years."

With a demonic growl, my brother charged at him in a whirlwind of blue flames, but the butler demon was faster and managed to dodge his furious blows every time.

I winced in pain as I crawled over to where one of my guns had fallen... If I could just reach it...

Rin tried again with Kurikara, but this time the demon butler not only managed to effortlessly avoid the blade, but knock it from his grasp. Before he could go after it, he was seized by his throat and lifted up as if he weighed no more the a child.

Finally, I was able to manage getting a hold of the nearest gun...

"I see my dear cousin was right, you two are most amusing," the demon butler said. Then he took out his pocket watch with his free hand, the other still clutching a struggling, flaming Rin. "Oh dear, look at the time though. I shall never have dinner ready at this rate."

_"Let him go!"_ I yelled. Ignoring the pain from my wound, I aimed the gun at the arm holding my brother and pulled the trigger.

Maybe these bullets couldn't destroy this particular demon, but the shot caused enough pain and distracted him enough so that he dropped Rin, who quickly scurried to retrieve his fallen sword.

"Get out of here, Brother!" I said before he could prepare to attack the demon butler again. "We can't handle this one on our own!"

Rin looked back at me, worried. "No! What about you? I'm not leaving..."

"It's _you_ he's after, dammit!" I interrupted in frustration. "Now get out of here and send for reinfocements! That's an _order_ not a suggestion!"

Though reluctant, for once my brother had the sense not to argue with me any further. "I'll be back for you!" he promised before turning and running towards the factory's nearest exit.

The demon started to go after Rin, but somehow I managed to struggle to my feet and fire another shot into him, making him turn back towards me.

"Oh no, you don't!" I growled, clutching my injured arm.

He sighed. "Very well, I see I shall have to tend to you first if this is going to proceed on schedule."

Not waiting to continue the conversation, I fired another round of bullets at him, then turned and ran, heading up the nearest stairway. The longer I kept this demon butler occupied, the more time Rin had to get reinforcements back here.

On the top floor, I found what must have been the factory managers office at some time. Quickly, I went in and locked the door behind me.

I leaned against the door for a moment to catch my breath, closing my eyes and still gripping my wounded arm. However, the pain seemed to be subsiding. It couldn't be the same kind of demonic regenerative healing as Rin had, could it?

"And just what do you think you are doing here?" Came a new, younger voice.

Startled, I looked to see a pale, dark haired young boy with a patch over his left eye standing just a few feet away from me. He couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen, but he was dressed elegantly and had a cool, arrogant expression.

This just kept getting worse! The last thing I wanted was for an innocent kid to be put in jeapordy on one of my missions!

"Look, there's no time to explain," I started towards him, "but we have to get you out of here. It's to dangerous. There's a demon..."

But my voice trailed off when I saw the boy didn't look the least bit afraid or even worried...

"Oh, really? I suppose I should thank you then." An eerily dark smile of amusement played about his young face. "How brave, coming to the aid of a helpless little child like me."

Before I even had time to be alarmed by that, a gloved hand came from behind and covered my mouth and nose with a strange smelling cloth...

"Now, this may be unpleasant, but please, do bear with me." I recognized the voice of the demon butler.

Chloroform! I tried to struggle, but it was no use... My hand fell limply to my side and dropped the gun, which clattered to the floor...

_"Brother..." _Was my last thought before I collapsed at the younger boy's feet and everything went black...

* * *

"I am most terribly sorry, Young Master," Sebastian Michaelis apologized with a bow. "Not only is dinner going to be late, but I have only managed to obtain the younger spawn of Satan rather than the elder, as per your orders."

Ciel Phantomhive studied the unconscious young exorcist on the floor. Glasses, dark, professional looking clothing, one might almost mistake Yukio Okumura for a soul reaper like William T Spears rather than the tenth son of The Demon Lord of Gehenna.

"No matter," the young demon replied apathetically. "This one may yet prove to be useful. And if we have the younger, it's only a matter of time until we have the elder." Then he looked back at his butler. "But remember, Sebastian, I must obtain the soul of Rin Okumura. You may have the younger brother's soul, but Rin's is mine. Is that completely understood?"

In response, Sebastian obediently knelt down on one knee as if to royalty. As disappointed and famished as he had been after Ciel Phantomhive's soul became unattainable, perhaps there was now a better meal available, one more worth waiting for...

"Yes, My Lord."


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

_"Hey, Yukio! I thought I'd find you here!"_

_I looked up from where I sat on the swing in the old park. Strange, this was just like what happened on my last night at the monestary, only in reverse._

_"Brother?" I was relieved to see he was safe._

_Rin grinned. "Come on! It's dinner time and everyone's waiting! Let's go home!"_

_I got up from the swing and followed him... Home...? Did he mean our dormitory at the True Cross Acedemy...? No, we were heading back to our old home at the Southern Cross Monestary..._

_I hurried to catch up with my brother as he headed towards the front door... The door opened and out stepped someone I thought I would never see again..._

_I stopped in my tracks... **"Dad...?"** It couldn't be..._

_"Welcome home!" he beamed at Rin and tussled his messy dark hair affectionately. "You're late though. Trouble with some hot chick? No, you're not that lucky!"_

_Rin made a disgruntled face and playfully swatted his hand away. "Oh, come on, Old Man. It could happen!"_

_Dad laughed. "Right! Anyway, you'd better get yourself in there before the sukiyaki's all gone."_

_"Sukiyaki! Allright!" And with that Rin hurried inside to the kitchen._

_"Dad!" I cried once I had overcome the shock. I hurried over to greet him joyfully. "Dad! I can't believe you're..."_

_But the next moment his hand, the same which had just tussled Rin's hair with such fatherly affection, drew back and slapped me hard across the face._

_I was so taken aback, I sank to my knees. "Dad...? Why...?" I rubbed my smarting cheek in disbelief._

_"You have no right to call me that anymore!" He snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at me angrilly through his glasses. "You're not my son! You never were!"_

_"What!?" I gasped._

_"Rin is my only son. I just took you in because he needed a companion," he continued. "You were only a tool, a weapon I raised in order to protect him when I wasn't there, and you couldn't even do **that** right!"_

_"But, Dad!" I protested, "I'm trying the very best I can to look after Rin in your place! Honest, I am!"_

_He shook his head in response. "Oh, really? Pointing that gun at your own brother and having the nerve to blame him for what Satan did?"_

_My throat tightened at that memory of what had happened in the classroom on Rin's first day at the academy and I looked away..._

_"What happened to me wasn't Rin's fault, no matter how you tried to make him believe it. No, Yukio, it was **yours!**"_

_Mine? Maybe he was right... Maybe I really blamed myself for Dads death because I had arrived to late to be able to do anything to save him and Rin, so I transferred that blame onto my brother..._

_As if reading my thoughts, Dad nodded. "That's right! At least my beloved son was there for me in my last moments and saved my body from being dragged down to Gehenna!"_

_"Dad!" I pleaded, my voice near to cracking and my eyes threatening tears. "Please! I'm sorry! I'm so very sorry!"_

_"Sorry?" He scoffed again. "You let Satan kill me and you hurt your brother! You hunt down and kill innocent demons! You turn against the Order to wipe out Gehenna, nearly causing Assiah to be destroyed at the same time, and all you can say is sorry?"_

_"Stop, please!" I begged, covering my ears and shutting my eyes. "I didn't mean it! I swear, I didn't!"_

_"If you really have the nerve to feel that way," Dad said coldly, "then you should turn yourself in to the Knights of the True Cross. Or better yet, **just die, please!**"_

_My heart sank upon hearing the very same cruel words I had spoken to Rin thrown right back in my own face._

_Then, turning his back on me, dad went back inside to join Rin and the others, slamming the door behind him._

_"Dad, no! Please!"_

I woke up with a start, cold and shaking. My eyes were hot and wet and I roughly wiped away the tears that threatened to release themselves. Breathing heavily, I covered my face with my hands.

"It's alright," I reassured myself, the way I used to when nightmares scared me as a kid. "It was just a bad dream, nothing to cry about."

The last thing I remembered was telling Rin to get away from that demon butler and being knocked out by the chloroform... Then there was that little boy with the eyepatch... I could only hope he was safe...

I fished around until I found my glasses right beside me. After putting them back on, I sat up and took in my surroundings...

I was seated on a comfortable bed in a clean, well decorated Western style room, though the furniture and wall paper seemed fairly old fashioned. I still wore my shirt, trousers and shoes, though my coat was neatly draped over a nearby chair. To my dismay, whoever had brought me here had obviously been sensible enough to take away my guns and ammunitions pack.

I got up from the bed and tried to open the door, then the window, but just as I suspected, both were locked. I silently cursed to myself, then I decided I may as well survey the area in case there was a possibility of escaping. From the window, I could see this was an oppulant Western style mansion with spacious grounds outside.

"Good day to you, Mister Okumura," came the voice of the demon butler behind me. "This is the room reserved for only the most important guests. I trust you slept well?"

I spun around. There he was again, with that sickeningly false smile and mocking bow.

"Well enough, for being drugged on chloroform and abducted!" I sapped.

"Do forgive me, but I thought it best, as your brother and you would certainly not come willingly," he replied, unfased. Before I could ask him about Rin, he continued. "I am Sebastian Michaelis, head butler of the Phantomhive household. Welcome to the young master's Japanese estate."

Of course, my first instinct was to reach for my guns and fight to escape, but I remembered they had already been taken.

Sebastian nodded knowingly. "Indeed, I took the liberty of confiscating your firearms and ammunition, so I would not advise trying to escape. Now, as I said, the young master wishes to see you, so if you would be so kind as to follow me."

That was an order, I realized, not a request. Allright, I guess he'd won... for now. I may as we'll find out just who this demon butlers master really was and what he wanted with Rin and I, though I already had my own suspicions.

Reluctantly I followed Michaelis out of the room and down a similarly lavish, old fashioned corridor...

We went down another flight of elaborate stairs to another floor, and entered a more plainly done wing. Sebastian led me to a pair of large double doors. I supposed that must be the mansions study.

"Young Master," he announced, knocking lightly on the door, "I have brought Mister Okumura as you have requested."

In response, I heard a familiar, cold, apathetic voice from the other end of the door.

"I _requested_ he be brought to me at dinner last night, Sebastian."

"My most humble apologies," the demon butler answered, opening the doors, "but our young guest is now ready to speak to you, My Lord."

My mouth fell open in bewilderment. Seated behind an expensive looking antique desk and dressed like the portraits and pictures I'd seen of Victorian nobility, was the young boy with the eyepatch from the abandoned factory, the one whom I thought was in danger!

_"You?!"_ I gasped, staring in disbelief. "You're this demons master?"

Calmly, almost elegantly, he took a sip of his tea and placed the cup and saucer down when he was finished.

"I am Ciel, Earl Of Phantomhive," he answered, placing his fingers together.

"Then what are you doing with a demon for a butler? And from what I've read, Ciel Phantomhive was said to have died in 1889 at the age of..."

As I spoke, Ciel raised his hand to his eyepatch and slowly removed it... Two bright crimson red eyes, similar to Sebastian's, stared condescendingly back at me...

"You didn't die! You're a demon yourself!" I gasped, wondering how I could have taken so long to fit the pieces together.

"How astonishingly perceptive of you," Ciel remarked dryly. "Now that that's been established, shall we talk business? I assumed you would be more reasonable than your brother."

Rin! Had they gotten him too? Please, dear God, let him be allright!

"Where is my brother?" I demanded. "If you've done anything to him..."

The demon Earl raised a black nailed hand. "No need to worry. He is perfectly fine in our custody. Sebastian and I intend to make a contract with each of you."

I narrowed my eyes. You didn't have to be an exorcist to know what making contracts with demons meant.

"In other words, you want our souls," I stated.

"Precisely. There is no pussyfooting around that fact, I'm afraid. The souls of the half human sons of Satan are not only a prized rare delicacy, but the demon who consumes them will gain immense power rivalling the ruler of Gehenna himself."

I adjusted my glasses and crossed my arms. "But considering what we are, in our case, wouldn't that be cannibalism?"

"It would be, that is, if you two were full demon," Ciel smirked, placing his fingertips together and crossing one leg over the other.

I might have guessed. To my knowledge, demons and the rest of the supernatural had no souls to consume. Half demons though would be a completely different case.

"Well, you're just going to have to find some different halfbreeds then, because no matter how foolish he is at times there's no way either Rin or I will agree to make contracts with you."

Oddly enough, Phantomhive didn't seem the least bit surprised.

"Are you so certain of that? You seem to be forgetting, a contract includes being granted any wish you may desire. Is there nothing your brother and you want for yourselves?"

I looked the demon Earl in the eye. "Nothing we would sell our own souls to you for," I answered coldly.

"Not even the people of your own town? Your own academy?"

At this, I nearly froze. "What are you saying?" I whispered.

Ciel shrugged apathetically. "Sebastian obays my every command, like a good butler. It would be a shame if I had to order him to destroy everything and everyone in your city."

I stood up from the chair and slammed my hands down on the desk. "No!" I shouted losing my composure upon hearing such a threat. "You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I, Mister Okumura?" Phantomhive remained unfased by my outburst. "I've had innocent people killed before, you know, even when I was human."

I blinked in surprise at the indication that this demonic Earl had once been a human boy.

It was right then that butler from hell, Sebastian, picked to enter the study, pushing an elegant cart carrying what I took to be an elaborately prepared gourmet Japanese meal.

"Pardon me, young master, but lunch is ready and served." Then he dramaticly elaborated. "Today we have seafood donburi with tuna, shrimp, salmon roe and sea urchin and crab from Hokkaido. There is more of the highest quality matcha tea, and for your sweet tooth there is red, orange and gold colored wagashi in the shape of maple leaves for the autumn season."

Ciel nodded, as if he expected no less. Spoiled brat! "Would you care to join me, Mister Okumura?"

If Phantomhive hadn't just threatened the entire city and the academy I might have almost laughed at the obvious attempt to warm me up to the idea of selling my soul to him.

"No thanks," I declined with a roll of my eyes. "Suddenly I've lost my appitite."

The demon Earl raised an eyebrow. "Very well then. Tea is a four o clock and dinner is at six, should your appetite return. You may also have the run of the estate, but I wouldn't recommend trying to escape... Make no mistake, we _will_ be discussing the matter of a contract, Mister Okumura."

Not bothering to dignify that with an answer, I turned my back and left the study, curtly refusing Michaelis offer to see me to my room. I could remember my own way back.

* * *

Once Yukio Okumura had left, the demon butler carefully and elegantly placed today's lunch on the desk before his young master.

"You have become a fine lier, my lord. In spite of my dissapointment upon losing your soul I must admit, being a demon suits you."

Yes, an accomplished lier indeed. He doubted His greedy Lordship had any intention of letting a mere butler consume the younger Okumuras soul, but he would make certain he did not go back on his word.

Ciel smirked as he brought another cup of matcha tea to his lips. "Well, I've learned from the best, haven't I? At any rate, I'm satisfied for now. Our guest won't try to escape as long as he believes we have his dear brother here, and Rin Okumura will come for him soon enough. It's best to have all your pieces in place before you start the game, is it not?"

Sebastian bowed. Indeed, he may have been forced to serve his young master these past many years, but once he and not Ciel obtained the souls of both the twin sons of Satan he would finally be powerful enough to free himself from this tedious contract. "Yes, My Lord."

* * *

I stalked angrilly back into the guest room, resisting the jouvanile urge to slam the door behind me. Sitting on the bed, I put my head in my hands. As if things weren't bad enough, held hostage by two demons who wanted Rin's and my souls, but they had my brother somewhere on these grounds! Obviously, they knew there was no way I would even _think_ of trying to escape without him, and even then the city and the academy would still be in danger.

Could Mephisto be trusted to protect everyone should worst come to worst? Possibly, but Ciel and Sebastian seemed just as powerful as him, if not more so, and seriously, how many times had our beloved head master put my students in danger just to test the extent of Rin's powers? For now, finding my brother had to be my objective before escaping. What would dad do in this situation? I wondered. Where would he start?

Just then, I heard a chuckle. My head came up and I was surprised to see the face of a little boy, no more then six or seven years old, peeking out from behind the door. He had tousled reddish brown hair, large, warm brown eyes and an impish grin.

"Jim!" he called behind him as he entered the room. "Come see, big brother! There's someone here! Who is he?"

At this, he was followed by another boy, older, probably thirteen or fourteen. He had light blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Both boys were dressed in similarly plain, old fashioned clothing.

"Hmmm, I don't know, Luka," the elder brother, Jim, answered with a smirk, coming closer to study me better. "He may be a boy of some sort, but with those glasses and that sulk he looks like a miserable, four eyed, mole faced old man!" Then he stuck a finger on each side of my mouth and tried to bring my lips up into a grin. "Smile, Sad Face!"

Annoyed, I batted his hands away. "Hey! Cut it out! And my name isn't Sad Face! It's Yukio Okumura!"

Instead the nervy brat laughed, and with the skill of a Charles Dickens era pickpocket swiped my glasses off my face!

This just kept getting better and better, didn't it?

"Hey! I need those!" I angrilly got up from the bed. "Give them back, you little..."

"Luka, catch!" Jim tossed my glasses to his giggling little brother.

The little monster cought them and gave a mock bow. "Yes, Your Highness!" Then he made a beeline for the door, but before I could go after him he nearly collided into the skirts of a buxom young maid just entering the room with an unusually large bouquet of fresh bluebells in her arms.

"Now, Jim, Luka. That is no way to behave towards guests. You _know_ that," she scolded gently in an accent as English as the others. Like everything else, her maids uniform was straight out of photographs from the eighteen hundreds. She had striking violet eyes and her long, silvery white hair was tied back loosely beneath her frilled cap.

In response, the younger child placed his hands behind his back with a sheepish expression and the elder crossed his arms in indignance.

"Aww, Miss Hannah," Luka protested. "We were just having a little fun."

"Maids shouldn't be so bloody bossy!" Jim added.

She gave him a stern look, the kind I'd seen lots of mothers give misbehaving kids.

"Jim, remember, _you_ are the one who said things were going to be different then they were at Trancy Manor. No more masters and no servants. We are a _family_ now."

To my surprise, the older boys face fell and he lowered his eyes. "Right... Family..." he murmured in agreement. I realized it was his own form of an apology.

Taking the cue, little Luka approached me and shyly held out my glasses with a guilty smile. "Heh... Sorry... Here you go."

"Thanks," I had to smile as I put them back on. Luka was a cute kid. "I have a drawer full of spares, but they're at home."

The maid, Hannah, placed the bouquet of bluebells in an empty vase on the small table by my bed.

"Now boys, I need you to go and fetch some water for the flowers, and make sure to keep out of Ciel and Sebastian's way, allright?"

"Oh, okay," Jim agreed reluctantly. "Come on then, Luka."

With another bow and "Yes, Your Highness," the little boy obediantly trotted out of the room after his big brother. "See you, Sad Face!"

Once they had gone, Hannah turned to me with an apologetic smile and a curtsy. "Yukio Okumura? I am Hannah Annafellows, head maid. You've already met my boys, Jim and Luka Maken. I'm sorry if they caused you any trouble."

"It's okay," I assured her. I had to admit, even if they weren't twins, those two already made me think of Rin and I when we were kids.

She studied me for a moment, as if trying to decide something...

"I know the Earl has that undertaker of a butler to take care of everything for him here..." She finally spoke. "But if there is ever anything the boys and I can do for you... If you ever need help with anything... please don't hesitate to come to us."

This startled me. Hannah and the boys seemed perfectly human, and as far as I could tell they were unaware of Ciel and Sebastians true nature as demons or my status as their prisoner rather then a guest. However, for all I knew, they could be spying for those monsters. Even if they really did want to help, I didn't want anyone putting themselves in danger on my account.

"Oh, it's allright, Annafellows san," I replied with a forced smile and a stiff bow. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

For a moment the maid looked sad, almost worried... Then she gave another curtsy before turning and leaving the room. "Very well, Sir. Please take care then."

I wanted to run after her, to yell "Yes! My brother and I are captives! For Gods sake, please help me find him and get him out of here!" but there was nothing in my upbringing or training that allowed for such behaviour.


End file.
